Northouse, Leadership 9e
SAGE Publications, 2021
Case 11.3: Agonizing Options for
Marlboro College
Case Synopsis and Analysis
From student enrollment numbers dipping, to the 2020 pandemic, to new occupations not
requiring a college degree, to a massive drop in state appropriations, many colleges and
universities struggle to keep their doors open. Marlboro College in rural Vermont is no
different. When faced with either closing their doors or merging with another school, the
campus president faced down this adaptive challenge and convened a community-wide team
to tackle the issue. After many, many meetings and discussions, a potential merger was
announced. All seemed fine until the merger fell through and then the campus community
Learning Objectives:
• Students will define the leader behaviors found in Adaptive Leadership.
• Students will recognize the balance found in Adaptive Leadership between the
Answers to Questions in the Text:
1. What were the competing commitments Marlboro’s president was trying to
navigate?
This case outlines how what may seem like a simple problem (we must do
something to keep the campus open) has far reaching and sometimes unintended
2. Would you describe the work of Marlboro’s president as adaptive leadership? Why
or why not?
3. Which of the following leader behaviors did the president utilize: (1) get on the
balcony, (2) identify adaptive challenges, (3) regulate distress, (4) maintain
disciplined attention, (5) give the work back to the people, (6) protect leadership
voices from below? Provide an example of each.
4. Do you think there is a different course of action the college should take to resolve
this challenge? Why or why not?
5. If you were the president of Marlboro College, how could you have created a
holding environment for the students, faculty, and townspeople of Marlboro?
6. Adaptive leadership is about helping followers address value struggles. Who in the
case is struggling, and what is their struggle?
The case outlines many struggles. The faculty struggle as they need to uproot their
Potential Teaching Approaches:
This case study is conducive to group discussions and exercises. Below is a way to structure
a class, based on Case Study 11.3:
• Lecture on Chapter 11, Adaptive Leadership.
• Have students read Case 11.3.
Northouse, Leadership 9e
SAGE Publications, 2021
Exercises for This Case Study:
1. Role Play: Knowing the outcome of this case, have students role play the following
scenario. Role play members should include: a campus president, a current student,
2. Group Discussion: Discuss a set of visualization steps for Marlboro College. What
would happen if the Marlboro did not find a partner? What would happen if the
board dismissed the president? What would happen if alumni were able to purchase
3. Using Google, have students search for similar campus mergers. Ask student groups
to locate other college mergers and report out on how leaders effectively managed